13 April 2009

This year, for the season of Lent, I had decided to be a very good Catholic and fasted.

Of course, the Catholic definition of fasting is somewhat conveniently abstract - unlike the Muslim month of Ramadan, where you can be punished for eating or drinking during daylight, most Catholics fast during Lent by means of 'abstaining' from something of worldly pleasure. Stuff like smoking, drinking (alcoholic beverage), playing videogames, sex, etc...

I decided to give up the one vice i rely on the most:

Coke Light

No joke, Coke Light is my cigarette / coffee / cocaine. Prior to Lent, i was drinking Coke Light at a rate of about three cans a day - that's roughly a litre of the black stuff each day. And if you think THAT'S bad, i used to do the same with full-flavoured, sugar-rich Coke. I did it while I was in university and while i was working in the Star. And it made me fat.

So i switched over to Coke Light and - would you believe it - i prefer it to normal Coke. It's even supplanted Vanilla Coke as my favourite variety of Coke. This is a very big deal, especially if you consider my tastes a couple of years ago (Click here for my diet-Coke shootout)

Anyway, back to Lent...

Yes, fasting.

I gave up Coke Light for the entire season of Lent this year. Except for weekends when I'd take a swig from a can that I'd asked Elaine to buy... and except for that one time at work where I'd bought myself an 8 ringgit bottle of Dr Pepper Zero (which is actually pretty good too) as a substitute. And that one time in McDonald's.

But yes, i fasted. And i swear i started feeling some sort of withdrawal symptoms - neither coffee nor sweet drinks could quench my thirst, and whenever anybody nearby drank an ice-cold can of Coke Light on a hot day, it shook the very core of my soul. It was difficult. it didn't really do anything spiritually for me (other than leaving me in a semi-vegetative state for most of the day).

Although it has reminded me of something - that good things come to those who wait.

So Good Friday came and went, followed by Easter Sunday. And then, i rewarded myself with the Coke Zero that I had asked Caryn to buy when she was in Singapore.

Coke Zero?

Yes... if there's one thing that i probably like even more than Coke Light, it's Coke Zero... which is widely available in Singapore, of all things. And after the local Coca Cola boys started putting the 'Zero' branding on Coke Light, I was dreaming of the day that Coke Light would officially come to Malaysia - so I wouldn't have to plonk down 5 ringgit for a can (that's almost THREE times the price of regular Coke Light).

Anyway, back to the end of Lent.

Yes, I've since consumed half the 1.5L bottle of Coke Zero, about a third a 1.5L bottle of Coke and about four cans of Coke Light in the past 48 hours. And after all that fasting and restraint, the Coke actually does taste a lot better.

So i guess the moral of the story is... erm....

We should be thankful for Christ's ascension into heaven (which is what Easter is about, in case you didn't know. It's got nothing to do with bunnies and shit) because He makes Coke... erm... taste better?

There! I've made a connection between Jesus and the Coca Cola company.